


should be here with me

by Springsteen



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Holidays, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 02:06:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8871487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Springsteen/pseuds/Springsteen
Summary: It's the end of the first semester of Bitty's junior year. Finals are around the corner, but all Bitty wants to do is bake cookies and talk to Jack.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lonelystar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelystar/gifts).



> many thanks to [clare](http://bshittyknights.tumblr.com) for the beta and to [beth](http://dexsnursey.tumblr.com) for cheerleading. fic is from "christmas (baby please come home)" and [here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tzrh0v-i5M) a version you should listen to while reading this. other recommended listening would be any mariah carey christmas music.

Bitty didn’t know what it was about the end of the semester that made him want to bake more than ever. Thanksgiving was over, the only day when no one thought he was crazy for baking eight pies for his closest friends come and gone, and with finals coming up Bitty had even less interest in studying for class. He’d just found a recipe for maple shortbread that was so amazingly simple he had to try it out. His textbook and history notes were jammed underneath his laptop, which was covered in post-it notes and blank notecards. Studying would have to wait. 

As he pressed the dough into the pan, he looked up out the window. It was drizzling and miserable outside, dark gray clouds making it nearly as dark as night. Bitty glanced at the clock and realized the sun would be going down soon anyways. He sighed as he slid the cookies into the oven and set a timer. Even with the holidays right around the corner, the world felt gloomy. Upstairs, he could hear Holster singing quietly (or at least quietly for Holster), which meant he was trying to work on his thesis. Bitty opened the cupboards and smiled, taking out all the ingredients for Holster’s favorite peanut butter cookies. The oven was already preheated, anyway. 

A few hours later, Bitty had gotten very little studying done for any of his finals, but the kitchen counters were covered with several dozen cooling cookies. “Wow, it smells amazing in here,” Chowder said, leaning through the door. 

“The Haus hasn’t smelled this good in years,” Lardo said, sliding past Chowder to grab a mug for tea. “Maybe ever.” She glanced down at the peanut butter cookies. “Aw, I was hoping for those ones with the Hershey kisses in them.”

“I can make those,” Bitty said. “I just need the kisses.”

Lardo leaned in and peppered kisses on his cheek. Bitty laughed, gently pushing her away. “Perfect, now I can start baking,” he said. 

“Yeah, it looks like you’ve just been wasting time until now,” Chowder chirped, his mouth full of cookie. “Oh my god, Bits, these are so good.” 

“Thanks,” Bitty said, smiling happily. “Leave some for everybody else.” Chowder looked down at the literal dozens of cookies still on the counter before grabbing another cookie and walking up to his room. Bitty shook his head. Chowder was usually so sweet, it was easy to forget he had a wicked sense of humor under his sunny goalie charm. 

“Gonna watch Jack’s game tonight?” Lardo asked, sitting down at the table with a mug of tea. Bitty took his phone out of his pocket to check it, but he didn’t have any messages, which meant Jack was probably taking his pre-game nap. He tried to remember if Colorado was two or three hours behind, wondering how soon Jack would wake up. He read his last message again. _Just landed in Denver. Call you soon_. 

“Of course,” Bitty said, putting his phone back in his pocket. The game was late, since they were playing in Colorado, but that would give plenty of time to study before it started. “I’m not gonna ask you to stay up with me, but you’re welcome to watch, too.”

Lardo smiled. “I have a paper to write for my art history class, anyway.” She leaned back in her chair and snagged a cookie from the counter. “We can study together first.” 

“Study,” Bitty said, setting down the jar of peanut butter on the counter. He’d been trying to decide if he needed to buy another to make the thumbprint cookies Lardo wanted, and he was pretty sure the answer was yes. “Sure.”

She smirked. “You’re thinking about making those cookies, aren’t you?”

He crouched down to pull containers out of the cabinet so he could pack up the cookies. “Yes,” he said to the inside of the cabinet. “There’s peanut butter in them, that’s protein. It’s almost like they’re healthy, right?” 

Lardo laughed. “I’m not the one you need to convince. I’m sure Jack would appreciate them, though.” Bitty smiled at her as she stood up. “Come on, I’ll get my jacket. We can grab coffee on the way back.”

“Laaaaaardooooo,” he said, carefully stacking the cookies in containers. “Has anybody told you you’re the best?”

“We really are studying later,” she called as she ran upstairs. Bitty ignored her and checked his phone again - still no messages. He put his phone back in his pocket before following Lardo upstairs to grab his own jacket. 

They didn’t talk about hockey at all. Instead, Lardo told him about her senior art project. “Just call it ‘this year’s project’,” Bitty said. “That way you won’t have to think about…”

“Good call,” she said, continuing on in her explanation. “Anyway, it’s totally free form, we can use any medium we want, which almost makes it worse, you know? How am I supposed to wrap up my entire Samwell experience?”

“Saran wrap?” Bitty suggested jokingly. “Or maybe gift wrap.”

Lardo stopped in the middle of the candy aisle. “Oh my god that’s brilliant,” Lardo said. “I’m gonna wrap up the entire art building as a performance art piece.” She grabbed three bags of Hershey kisses and dropped them in the cart.

“What, really?” Bitty asked, steering the cart down the bakery aisle just to make sure he had everything he’d need. 

“No,” Lardo said, pushing the cart right past the Ghirardelli chips Bitty didn’t actually need. “Let’s get baking.”

“Oh, I thought we were gonna study,” Bitty said. Lardo rolled her eyes and pulled Bitty and the shopping cart toward the checkout.

As they parked and walked back to the Haus, they could hear a loud argument that only got louder as they got closer. Dex and Nursey were arguing in the front yard, a heap of Christmas lights at their feet. Dex was trying to untangle one string, looking murderous. 

“Why did you even drag these out of the basement?” he asked, glaring over his shoulder at Nursey. 

“I told you, I thought the Haus would look festive,” Nursey said. “I thought it’d be fun.” Dex snorted and turned his attention back to the lights. “You don’t have to untangle them, Dex, I can do it.”

“No, it’s fine,” Dex said, fighting to free two feet of lights.

“It doesn’t look so fine,” Nursey said, leaning over Dex.

“I wouldn’t _say_ it was fine if it wasn’t fine,” Dex said. The upstairs window creaked as it opened. 

“Nursey?” Chowder asked, leaning outside. “Could you read over my essay for my literature class?” 

When Nursey stepped away from Dex, he looked a little disappointed. “Yeah, C, be up in a sec.” 

“Thanks!” Chowder yelled, slamming his window closed again. When Bitty caught his eye, he winked. Two years ago, Chowder had been so concerned about Nursey and Dex’s constant arguing, but now he was finding increasingly creative ways to break up their bickering when it got out of hand. The whole team knew better than to actually get between them, and knew that their arguments were rarely the contentious fights they had been freshman year, but it didn’t make it any easier to listen to them bicker all the time. 

Bitty spent the rest of the afternoon actually studying for his French final - mostly because Lardo had banned him from the kitchen until he actually got some work done. Just before dinner, he got a text from Jack confirming their skype date for later that night. He couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the day, and when Lardo let him back into the kitchen after team dinner, he set aside an assortment of cookies for Jack. If he could mail a pie from Georgia, surely some cookies would survive the trip from Samwell to Providence. 

Later that night he was curled up on the gross green couch, Lardo on one side and Chowder on the other. Outside, multicolored lights glowed softly in the windows. Dex had finally successfully untangled them with some help from Ransom, and Bitty had to admit they did make the Haus look very festive. He scrolled through Pinterest, not paying much attention to it as they waited for the Falconers game to start. 

“Is that a gingerbread house?” Chowder asked, looking at Bitty’s computer screen.

“What?” Bitty asked, scrolling back up to click on the picture Chowder pointed to.

“Dude, that’s like, gingerbread Hogwarts,” Lardo said, leaning in on Bitty’s other side. “That’s a cookie masterpiece.”

“Yeah, it is,” Bitty agreed. “That’s some crazy architecture.”

“You could do that, Bits,” Chowder said.

“Sure, if I just gave up on all my classes now,” Bitty said. He closed his laptop then, because the game was about to start, but he made a note to look for that gingerbread recipe his mama sent him the other day. It was a holiday classic, after all. It was too bad he couldn’t turn in a gingerbread Notre Dame cathedral for his French final - then he’d pass for sure. 

Once the game started, he didn’t have time to think about any more cookies. He hoped they didn’t wake up Ransom and Holster with how much they were yelling, but he forgot about that, too, once Jack scored his second goal of the game. 

“Oh my god, I can’t believe we used to play with him,” Chowder said, standing up and stretching during the break between the second and third periods. “He used to live here! That’s so crazy!” Bitty grinned down his phone. _Amazing goals!!!_ he texted. _Chowder’s so impressed he played with an NHL star_. “Bitty!” Chowder said excitedly. “Bitty, you’re _dating_ Jack Zimmermann!”

Lardo laughed. “Yeah, C, only for his hockey skills,” she said, sitting down with a mug of tea. 

“It’s just so cool,” Chowder said. “I forget about it sometimes, and then Jack sends us tickets to his games, or we sit here watching him on tv, and it’s just, wow!” 

“Just wow,” Bitty agreed, sending one more good luck text to Jack and settling in to watch the last 20 minutes of the game. Jack didn’t get a hat trick, but the Falconers beat the Avalanche five to two, and Bitty smiled as he went upstairs, chased by Lardo and Chowder’s shouts to “congratulate his man.”

A few months ago, he’d been so worried about anyone finding out about him and Jack, but now that the team knew, Bitty was feeling happier than he had in months. The only thing that would make him happier was if Jack was there with him, but Jack was living his dream, playing in the NHL, and Bitty couldn’t be happier for him. “Great game, sweetheart,” Bitty said as soon as the skype call connected. Jack looked exhausted, which Bitty really should’ve expected, considering the game he’d just played.

“Thanks, Bits,” Jack said. “It’s good to see you.”

Bitty smiled the soft smile he was pretty sure only Jack saw and wished for the thousandth time he could reach through the computer screen and touch Jack, just to hold his hand or curl his arm around his shoulders. Jack felt just as far away in Colorado as he did in Providence, still separated by the screen. 

“It’s good to see you, too,” Bitty said quietly, pulling his blanket tighter around himself. “Last game on the road for now, right?” 

“Yeah,” Jack said. “I’ll be back in Providence tomorrow, and then we have a home game on Saturday. I’d get you tickets, but.”

“We have a game Saturday, too,” Bitty finished. “What’s Shitty gonna do?” 

“Lardo will text him updates of both games,” Jack said, yawning hugely. “Sorry,” he apologized immediately. “It was a long game.”

“You should get some sleep,” Bitty said. Jack nodded, barely able to keep his eyes open. “Goodnight, Jack.”

“ _Bonne nuit,_ Eric.” Bitty smiled as he closed his computer, wishing he hadn’t had a large coffee that afternoon. He wasn’t tired at all, despite the fact that it was after midnight now. He leaned over the edge of his bed and just managed to grab his history book. Since he wasn’t going to be able to sleep anytime soon, he might as well read until he actually was tired. He fell asleep a while later, his arm curled around Señor Bun and his history book still on the bed.

The next few days were a blur of studying, practice, and more studying. Bitty wanted to have one more Haus dinner before finals week started and people started heading home for break, but it seemed impossible, given everyone’s schedules at the end of the semester. Lardo spent a lot of her time in the art building, and she was taking trips up to Boston whenever she could to see Shitty. Bitty hadn’t even had time to go to the post office to mail cookies to Jack.

After he turned in his final paper for his philosophy class, Bitty rewarded himself with a peppermint mocha from Annie’s on his way back to the Haus. He wanted to bake one more batch of cookies before he sent some to Jack, and now the only final he had left to study for was his French exam. Chowder had finished his last comp sci final that morning. He and Farmer were curled up on the couch watching Netflix when Bitty walked in.

“Y’all want sugar cookies?” he asked. Today felt like a good day to get creative with icing and decorations.

“Always,” Farmer said. “You’re the best, Bitty. Jack is so lucky.” 

“Hey,” Chowder said. Farmer looked up at him, kissing the edge of his jaw. 

“You’re pretty okay, I guess,” she said, smiling hugely, as Bitty walked into the kitchen. Outside, the sky was full of dark gray clouds. People had been talking about it starting to snow all week, and it looked like that finally might happen. Tiny, fluffy flakes had begun to fall as Bitty was rolling out the cookie dough. A knock at the door echoed through the Haus.

“Chowder, can you get that?” Bitty yelled. No one responded. Bitty stuck his head out into the living room to see Chowder and Farmer both asleep on the couch, curled against each other sweetly. Bitty resisted the urge to take a picture and crossed quickly to the front door, swinging it wide open.

Jack stood on the porch, smiling shyly at him. “Merry Christmas, Bits,” he said. A few snowflakes clung to the curls that stuck out from under his hat. 

“Jack,” Bitty said, still surprised to see him standing on the porch. It was less than an hour to drive from Providence to Samwell, but both of their schedules kept them so busy that Bitty hadn’t been expecting to see Jack until after he finished his finals.

“Yeah,” Jack said. “I know you’ve got one more final left, but it’s French. I thought I could help you study.”

Bitty stepped out onto the porch, throwing his arms around Jack. “Thank you,” he said, his lips brushing against Jack’s scarf. 

“Anytime,” Jack said. “I mean it.”

“I know,” Bitty said, leaning back a little and feeling Jack’s arms tighten around him. Hands braced on Jack’s chest, Bitty stretched up to kiss him. Jack kissed him back instantly. The snow had picked up, big fluffy flakes falling steadily as the sun set. Bitty would have to get the cookies out of the oven soon, but for now, he was perfectly happy for Jack to kiss him, to wrap his arms around him and keep each other warm. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! feel free to say hey on [tumblr](http://jayzimmbonni.tumblr.com).


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